HARRY Barr was 19 when he met his wife to be, Violet, before the Second World War and it wasn't long after they were married in St Mary's, Lydney, a few years later, the balloon went up – literally.
Harry had been working on aircraft servicing in Bristol as a corporal in the RAF, with Violet working in a doctor's surgery, but it wasn't long before he was switched to working on barrage balloons.
"They suddenly went from a few at the beginning of the war to thousands and thousands," said Harry, who was sent to Cardiff to work on a balloon production unit there, then later to Kent during the blitz.
"That was when they had the doodlebugs down there," he said. He had signed up before the war and could have left in the final year of hostilities.
"Somebody said it was cold out there, so I ended up doing nine years altogether," he said.
Following his life in the services the couple set up home in Lydney, where Harry later became fire station chief.
Harry, 81, and Violet, 76, have two sons and three grandchildren and they plan a party for family and friends on the big day, July 5.
"I am surprised how quickly it has all gone, fantastic," said Harry. "I can't believe it sometimes."
And his recipe for a happy marriage? "Do as you're told!"